Just a girl from Washington state who goes to school in Wisconsin who was in D.C. for an internship and is studying abroad in Germany for the spring.

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Thoughts on the end of a semester

I’m leaving Germany in 20 days. 20. I can’t even fathom it. This has been my home for four months. I’ve grown so comfortable her. I have a rhythm, I have a Germany-specific friend group, I have a boyfriend… I have a home here. Which is not to say that I have abandoned all ties to the United States and I’m now an ex-pat. But it’s just been so long since that was my life that the thought of returning to it is so strange.

Keeping up with this blog has certainly been a struggle. I told myself that I wasn’t going to be one of those people who pledges to blog the whole way and leave no adventure undocumented, only to fall off the wagon a month in. But since I’ve been here, I understand now how that happens. So much is happening here all the time that the thought of taking time out to sit down and write about it is overwhelming. Where to begin?

So I have finally documented the last of my major trips. There were some smaller journeys along the way that unfortunately didn’t make it in, like my trip back down to Munich to see a Fleet Foxes concert, or my day trip to Heidelberg. But in my defense, I had nearly finished a post about the concert trip to Munich when my browser crashed and I lost it all. So I tried, at least.

But in addition to missing out on the stories of some smaller trips, I haven’t done a very good job documenting my day-to-day life out here. Believe it or not, I’ve actually been going to classes too! Occasionally. This is actually my second-to-last week of classes. I have a couple papers to write and one oral test, but nothing should be too terribly difficult.

I only have one trip planned out for the rest of my time. From July 17 – 20 I’ll be in the small resort town of Neuharlingersiel, which is on the North Sea coast. My aforementioned boyfriend Sven and I will be going there together, and I’m quite excited for it—sort of like a mini-vacation within what was largely already a vacation. I’ve purposefully avoided talking about him in this blog because I didn’t want things to get too personal, but it would be sort of hard to avoid talking about him when I write about my Neuharlingersiel trip. And probably most people reading this blog knew about him already. But anyway. There may be a brief two day trip back up to Köln before that, but I’m not certain.

But what is certain is that on July 25 I will fly back to Seattle and will probably arrive equal parts elated and devastated. The downside of becoming so settled here is that it will be incredibly hard to leave. But my one comfort is knowing that this is by no means my last trip to Germany. I love it here and will work on getting back as soon as possible. The end of this trip is approaching, but I know there is a greater journey that is only just beginning.